Corn sheller



Jan. 18 1927. 1,614,921

A. E. GILMAN coRN SHELLER Filed Jan. 19, 1924 '2 snazia-shui 1 PatentedJan. 18, 1927.

UNITED STATES PAT'ENT OFFICE` ALBERT E. G'ILMAN, OF OTTAWA, ILLINOIS,ASSIGNOR TO KING & HAM'ILTON COM PANY, or OTTAWA, ILLINoIs,

A CORPORATION .OF ILLINOIS.

CORJN SHELLER.

Application led January Is, 1924. serial Na. 687,193.

My inVention is concerned with corn shellers, and I have shown myimprovements as applied to the Ottawa77 sheller, which ls shown in thepatent to Hall, Reissue No; 13,418, dated May 14, 1912. In the operationof said sheller I have found that the husks were not sufl'icientlyseparated from the cobs, a large proporton thereof being discharged Withthe cobs, and in order to get a more perfect separation, I have made thechanges in the device which changes constitute this invention.

I anneX hereto two sheets of drawings, in which the same referencecharacters are used to desgnate identical parts in all the figures, ofwhich,--

Fig. l is a side elevation of the machine, but with a portion thereof insection on the line 1 1 of Fig. 2, and With-some of the casing removed;

Fig. 2 is a Vertical section on an enlarged scale, on the line 2- 2 ofFig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a central, Vertical section through the discharging end of theshelling cylinder and the husk pipe; and

Fig. 4 is a Vertical section on the line 4-4 of Fig. 3.

I have, for convenience, shown my invention as applied to the well known`Ottawa sheller, although it will be apparent thatv it might be appliedto other differently arranged shellers. As shown, the main elements ofthis sheller are the concave 10, into which the ears of corn aredelivered to be f operated upon by the shelling cylinder 11,

which is rigidly secured on the central shaft 12 extending lengthwise ofthe machine and 'journaled in suita'ble bearings, and to which power maybe applied in any suitable manner, as by a belt wheel (not shown) on itadjacentthe belt pulley 13. A blast or winnower fan 14 driven by aVsuitablebelt land pulley connections (not shown) from the wheel 13 issecured upon the rear ofv the sheller and mounted in a suitable casing15 so as to direct a blast of air through the exit aperture lragainstthe under side of the screen 17, Which is slidably mount'ed by means ofears 18 on bearing rod 19, and which is reciprocated by means of the arm20 mounted upon the Vertical crank-shaft 21 `iournaled in suitablebearing's and driven by means of the bevel gear 22 from the miter gear23 secured on the end of the shaft 12. r1`he fan 14 is,-of course,rotated in the proper direction by the above-mentioned connections fromthe driVing shaft 12. In additionto the supporting ears 18, the screen17 is also supported by the Spring arms 25 in the customary manner. Asuction or eX- haust fan 26 is mounted in the suction fan casing 27 uponthe shaft`28, which is rotated at the proper rate'ofV speed bymeansofthe beltz pulley 29, belt 30 and belt wheel 31 secured upon the shaft 32driven by means of suitable bevel gearing (not shown) from theupper endof the crank-shaft 21. i

The main screen 17 and the associated auxiliary screens may be of anydesred construction so that they separate the silks and chaif from thegrains of corn falling through the screen as the same is reciprocated.EX- tending from the side of the casing and below the outer edges of thescreen 17 is a hood 48a which is provided to insure the updraftindicated by the arrows. As the silks and fine husks pass'off of thewires 43, shown as forming a part of the auXiliary screen mechanism,they are met by the strong current of air, being drawn up through theapertures in the sieves by means of the sucton fan 26 so vthat they arecarried up ovel the concave, which is covered by the semicylindricalshell 45, so that the silks and fine husks pass freely thereoVer andthrough the large central aperture 46 leading to the fan casing 27, fromwhich they are discharged through the eXit-'aperture 47 to Whatever pipe'or' Other means is usedfor carrying thein off. It will of course beunderstood that between the top of the shell and the upper portion ofthe casing, Which includes what I call-the wind Chest 48, is formed awind passage leading fromthe winnower fan and screen to the exhaust fan,so that the air currents through the machine are concentrated andcontrolled. This upper portion 48, constituting' the wind chest, ismperforate except for the opening 46 to thefan casing and for theopening thereinto at 49 .(see Fig. 2) of the custolnary suction trunk 50eXtending to and opening over thereceiving end of the customary cobconveyor (not shown) so that the suction fan will tend to draw to itthrough the trunk 50 any loose husks, silks, etc., which may bedischarged with the cobs from the shelling eylnder.

The shelling cylinder has at its upper rear endV an opening 51 throughWhich the cobs are ejccted from the concave, their passage beingfacilitated by the pair of disks 52, which have ribs 53 on theiradjacent faces and are shaped 'so as to carry the cobs between thedisks, which are secured on the shaft 21, and pass them to the aperture54 in the bot-tom of the trunk or pipe 50.

The structure thus far described constitutes the prior art, and in theuse of this machine, it has been found that far too much of the airsucked in by the fan 26 is drawn up over the top 45 of the concave, andmuch too little is drawn through the suction trunk or pipe 50. In orderto remedy this difiiculty, I have placed in the wind chest 48 a Verticalpartition 55, eX- tending down to the horizontal partition 56, eXtendingacross the wind chest 4:8, as indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 1, sothat the partitions 55 and 56 form a continuation, as it were, of thetrunk or pipe 50, and the partition 56, passing entirely across theinlet 46, determines what portion of the suction of the fall 4:6 shallbe applied to the passage of the air through the trunk 50, and whatportion shall be applied to the drawing -up of the air through theshaking screen. As illustrated, nearly one half of the suction isapplied to the trunk 50, and as its cross-sectional area is so muchsmaller than that of the passage through which the rest of the airreaching the fan is drawn, the draft through the t-runk is relativelymuch lnore powerful, with the result that a relatively powerful draftenters through the aperture 24, lifting the lighter husks from the cobswith which they are mixed, and insuring their practically colnpleteseparation.

Another feature of my invention consists in the changing of thestructure of the lower end of the suction trunk or pipe 50, and, as willbe seen in the aforesaid Hall reissue Patent No. 13,418, the lower endof the trunk 50 against which the husks are drawn by suction isVertical, so that there eXists a tendency for the husks to be stopped bythe cobs passing out therewith and to drop down through the aperture 54with the cobs. In my improved construction, it will be noted that thetrunk 50 is extended farther beyond the wheel 31, and the end portion57, which was Vertical in the old construction, has now been inclined atan acute angle to the horizontal, so that the husks passing horizontallyto said end strike, not a Vertical wall, as before, but an inclinedsurface up which they readily slide wit-ll practically Ilo friction asthey are drawn upward by the more powerful suction, instead of beingheld by the cobs against the Vertical wall by the pressure of the cobsagainst them so that they fall with the cobs, as in the oldconstruction.

lVhile I have shown and described my invention as embodied in the formwhich I at present consider best adapted to carry Out its purposes, itwill be understood that it is capable of modiications, and that I do notdesire to be limited in the interpretation of the following clailnsexcept as may be necessitated by the state of the prior art.

WVhat I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of theUnited States, is:

1. In a corn sheller, the combination with a shelling concave, and acylinder co-operat ing therewith, of a screen beneath said concave, anoutlet for the cobs and husks froln the discharge end of the concave, asuction fan and a fan casing adapted to draw air up through the screeninto the fan casing and to eXpel it therefrom, a husk pipe eX- tendingfrom the cob outlet to the inlet of the fan casing, and means fordividing in a desired ratio the suction of the fan that is applied tothe husk pipe and to the screen.

2. In a corn sheller, the combination with a shelling concare, and acylinder co-operating therewith, of a screen beneath said concave, anoutlet for the cobs and husks from the discharge end of the concave, asuction fan and a fan casing adapted to draw air up through the screeninto the fan casing and to eXpel it therefrom, a husl; pipe eX- tendingfroln the cob outlet to the inlet of the fan casing, and means fordividing in a desired ratio the suction of the fan that is applied tothe husk pipe and to the screen, said means consisting of an extensionof said pipe over the inlet of the fan casing so that a definiteproportion of the air entering the fan casing must be drawn from thehusk pipe.

3. In a corn sheller, the combination With a shelling concave and acylinder cO-operating therewith, of a screen beneath said collcave, anoutlet for the cobs and husks froln the discharge end of the concave, asuction fan and a fall casing adapted to draw air up through the screeninto the fan casing and to expel it therefrom, a Wind chest above theconcave having at one side thereof an inlet to the fan casing, a huskpipe extending from the outlet to the Wind chest adjacent the fan-casinginlet, an extension of said pipe within the wind chest being open overthe inlet of the fan casing and serving to divide said Opening so thata. definite propol't-ion of the air entering the casing must be drawnfrom the husk pipe.

4. In a corn sheller, the combination with a shelling concave and acylinder co-operating therewith, of a screen beneath said con- Cave, anoutlet for the cobs and husks from the discharge end of the concave, asuction fan and a fan casing adapted to draw air into the fan casing andto eXpel it therefrom, a husk pipe extending from the outlet to theinlet of the fan casing, said husk pipe being provided nearits'substantially horizontal receiving end With a doWnWardly opening`cob outlet and having its bottom beyond said cob outlet inclinedupWardly at an acute angle, for the purpose described.

5. In a corn sheller, the combination With a shelling concave and acylinder co-operating thereWith, of a screen beneath said concave, anoutlet for the cobs and husks from the discharge end of the concave, asuction fan and a fan casing adapted to draw air into the fan casing`and to eXpel it therefrom, a husk pipe extending from the outlet to theinlet of the fan casing, said husk pipe being; provided near itssubstantially horizontal receiving end With a doWnWardly opening coboutlet and having its bottoln beyond said cob outlet inclined upWardlyat an acute angle, and means for dividing` in a desired ratio thesuction of the fan that is applied to the husk pipe and to 'the screenso that the draft through the husk pipe is relatively more powerful thanthat through the screen.

6. In a corn sheller, the combination With a shelling concave and acylinder co-Operating thereWith, of a screen beneath said concave, anoutlet for the cobs and husks from the discharge end of the concave, asuction fan and a fan casing adapted to VdraW air into the fan casingand to eXpel it 'therefrom, a huek pipe extending:Y from the outlet tothe inlet of the fan casing, Said husk pipe being:` provided near itssubstantially hori- Zontal receiving` end With a doWnWardly opening coboutlet and having its bottom beyond said cob outlet inclined upWardly atan acute angle, and means for dividing in a desired ratio the suction ofthe fan that is applied to the husk pipe and to the Screen so that thedraft through the husk pipe is relativeltY more powerful than thatthrough the screen, said means consisting of an eX- tension of said pipeover the inlet of the fan casing so that a definite proportion of theairentering' the fan casing must be drawn from the husk pipe.

'7. In a corn sheller, the combination With a shelling concave and acylinder co-operating thereWith, of a screen beneath said concave, anOutlet for the cobs and husks from the discharge end of the concave, asuction fan and a fan casinT adapted to draWv air into the fan casingand eXpel it therefrom, a Wind chest above the concave having at oneside thereof an inlet to the fan casing, a husk pipe extending from theoutlet to the Wind chest adjacent the fan-casing inlet, an extension ofsaid pipe Within the Wind chestbeing open Over the inlet of the fancasing and serving` to divide said opening so that a definite proportionof the air entering the casing may be drawn from the husk pipe making`the .draft through the husk pipe relatively more powerful than thatthrough the screen, said husk pipe also being provided near itssubstantially horizontal receiving end With a doWnWardly opening coboutlet and having` its bottom beyond said cob outlet inclined upwardiyat an acute angle, for the purpose described.

8. In a corn sheller, the combination With a suction fan casing and asuction fan therein, of a cob discharge chute, a housing` adjacent theentrance to the suction fan casing, a husk pipe leading from the outletof the cob discharge chute to the housing, and a passage formed in thecasing and connected at one end to the husk pipe and having its otherend opening into a fractional portion onlyV of the entrance to thesuction fan casing'.

9. In a corn Sheller, the combination With a suction fan casing and asuction fan therein, of a cob discllarge chute, a housing adjacent 'theentrance to the suction fan casing, a shaft for the suction faneXtending through the housing, a husk pipe leading from the outlet ofthe cob discharge chute to the housing, and a passage fornled in thecasing and connected at one end to the husk pipe and having its otherend opening into a fractional portion only of the entrance to thesuction fan casing, said passage having its bottom adjacent said shaft.

In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this 16th day ofJanuary, 1924.

ALBERT E. GILMAN.

